There was a stretch in the 3rd when the Warriors went at Pau 4 out of 6 possessions, no matter who it was, because they had no respect for his lateral movement, heart, or other defense. it was sad to watch.

This team is ready to turn a corner. I can sense it. If there is a market to bring in vets and energy then I think we have to do it.

everyone out of nash's passes was aggressive but he wasn't. i love pau but hes gotta be more aggressive off pnr with Nash and idk what the 3 pointer was but never again unless its a buzzer beater bailout shot.

hill did exactly what pau should do off pnr. if the layup is there take it if not shoot the midrange within rhythm without thinking. hill got the pass from nash who expected him to be aggressive and look to score and it worked. pau needs to do the same and look to pass when theyre running horns and hes at the elbow like he did and founf meeks twice and dwight for the oop.

hes gotta know when to attack and actually do it and when to look to pass.

I thought he played a nice team game last night. He moved the ball, made some great assists and grabbed some clutch rebounds. I do agree with everyone that he needs to be a bit more selfish in terms of getting his own when he's open and not always looking to pass. To be fair though, the guy got hacked on several shot attempts with no calls and thus his line didn't tell the complete tale on offense. Those counted as misses and they should have been trips to the line for double digit scoring.

The pick and rolls with Nash were wonderful to see. Glad to see him roll to the rim and not always settle for the pick and pop. Those two have a nice chemistry developing already.

Lakerjones wrote:I thought he played a nice team game last night. He moved the ball, made some great assists and grabbed some clutch rebounds. I do agree with everyone that he needs to be a bit more selfish in terms of getting his own when he's open and not always looking to pass. To be fair though, the guy got hacked on several shot attempts with no calls and thus his line didn't tell the complete tale on offense. Those counted as misses and they should have been trips to the line for double digit scoring.

The pick and rolls with Nash were wonderful to see. Glad to see him roll to the rim and not always settle for the pick and pop. Those two have a nice chemistry developing already.

That's the thing though. PnR needs pick and pop to make it work. The defender needs to be wary of the Pick and pop for the roll to work. Else, the defender will just roll and not worry about the possibility of the pop.

Pau is a good passer and he knows how to play within an offense. I liked how when Nash didn't P&R, he initiated the plays by feeding it to Pau in the high post. Just by giving Pau the ball in that position, you have a decent chance at the defense hesitating for a second, allowing Dwight to slip by his man for a lob. If not, just getting Pau the ball there draws the defense in a bit, allowing Metta, Nash, and Kobe more space to move off-ball.

With that said, from what I saw yesterday, I don't think Nash's game can work enough magic for Pau to warrant keeping him. Like others have said, he's too slow and timid. Nash won't fix that. There was a P&R play with Nash where Nash put the ball a bit in front of Pau. I thought Nash was leading him to the rim and Pau would try and finish. He had an open lane with only Klay Thompson in position to help. Instead, Pau took the 12 foot mid-range shot. He hit it, but he looked hesitant and too slow to the point where for a split second, I wasn't sure if he'd even be able to get the ball for the mid-range shot. Look at about the 6:40 mark of Cachooka's team highlights for the play.

Obviously, Nash's game is going to help Pau, but that's just because Nash's game helps everyone. Having someone physically able to more aggressively finish on the roll, hit the mid-range shot with even more consistency than Pau on the pop, and play decent defense would benefit our team much more (even if said player isn't as good of a facilitator as Pau).

Its so frustrating watch Pau these days, he does things that this team desperately needs (Quality mins at C, rebounding, passing, inititating the offense, etc) but he sucks balls at scoring the ball hes pretty much what Lamar is. He has the skills we need and we have to rely on him for that, not many big guys out there have the combo of passing skills and rebounding. But at the same time stop squandering open shots whether its 10 feet or 5 feet in the post. His struggles have become amplified because Dwight is not scoring as much as we want to, the expectation was for him to average 20 a game and hes not 100% and Pau is not picking up the slack in the meantime. SMH

I'm just wondering what you guys expected to see?... Did you expect him to come back and look like Pau from 2009? That ship has sailed a long time ago.

Now at least he's playing more aggressively and he's working harder. I'm seeing less of him standing around shrugging and more of him taking ownership or giving more effort. As things move along he'll get a little better than what he is now, but right now what he can provide is about 10/10/5 with a block or a steal a game. That's a lot and it's actually a pretty awesome piece. He's still going to be timid around the rim a lot. He's still going to get shots put up over him. He'll still fumble some balls away, although I expect that to lessen as he gets used to Steve.

He's never going to be what he was guys. I'm far from disappointed in his play these last two games. All I wanted was some more fire in him and that's what he's giving us. I'm taking solace in the fact that I've seen him pumped up a few times these last couple of games. I've seen him look interested instead of lost.

^^^^ he's doing some good things out there ( his passing from the high post was key down the stretch) ... for a player who would get about 5 to 8 Millions a season and play for a 1st round exit team ... not for 19 millions and a supposed 3rd option on a title contender

The pb is we all know he's going to be owned by the above average PF like Ibaka , Faried he will likely face in the playoffs .. and I'm even not talking about the Z-Bo or Ginger of this world .

He failed to deliver in back to back playoffs and NOTHING in his play this season tends to indicate it's going to change in the upcoming ones .

therealdeal wrote:I'm just wondering what you guys expected to see?... Did you expect him to come back and look like Pau from 2009? That ship has sailed a long time ago.

Now at least he's playing more aggressively and he's working harder. I'm seeing less of him standing around shrugging and more of him taking ownership or giving more effort. As things move along he'll get a little better than what he is now, but right now what he can provide is about 10/10/5 with a block or a steal a game. That's a lot and it's actually a pretty awesome piece. He's still going to be timid around the rim a lot. He's still going to get shots put up over him. He'll still fumble some balls away, although I expect that to lessen as he gets used to Steve.

He's never going to be what he was guys. I'm far from disappointed in his play these last two games. All I wanted was some more fire in him and that's what he's giving us. I'm taking solace in the fact that I've seen him pumped up a few times these last couple of games. I've seen him look interested instead of lost.

I saw exactly what I expected to see from Pau. Which is excactly what you said. 10/10/5, but timid and prone to fumbling. And that's what I expect to continue. I just don't think that's enough from him which is why I've never relinquished in my desire to trade him. I understood that it would be stupid to trade him without even giving him a chance to play alongside Nash (not from a basketball standpoint, but because the media/fans would crush the Lakers for not giving Pau a chance, and I think ownership probably wants to avoid something like that after the PJ/D'antoni fiasco). I give him credit for playing with more passion and for trying to make it work, but he's just not a good fit anymore. We need an athlete at that position.

wcsoldier81 wrote:^^^^ he's doing some good things out there ( his passing from the high post was key down the stretch) ... for a player who would get about 5 to 8 Millions a season and play for a 1st round exit team ... not for 19 millions and a supposed 3rd option on a title contender

The pb is we all know he's going to be owned by the above average PF like Ibaka , Faried he will likely face in the playoffs .. and I'm even not talking about the Z-Bo or Ginger of this world .

He failed to deliver in back to back playoffs and NOTHING in his play this season tends to indicate it's going to change in the upcoming ones .

I don't disagree with the money thing. For the money, he's certainly NOT worth it. But I don't know if there's a better passing big man in the game right now and that helps us a LOT with the potency of both Howard and Kobe. Again, not worth 19 million, but his passing makes him a better fit than we'd previously feared.

I don't think he'll get "owned" by those guys because they'll be drawn away from the basket now. He'll get out worked by them, but he won't necessarily get owned because their main priority will be helping to Dwight on the pick and roll.

And I assume Ginger means Griffin. In one-on-one situations, Pau has embarrassed Griffin defensively. Griffin has NOT A SINGLE post move. The kid is pure garbage outside of running and jumping. His "jumper" is laughable and his defense leaves a lot to be desired. I hold NO fear of that kid outside of a couple of dunks that may or may not be offensive fouls.

Helljumper wrote:I saw exactly what I expected to see from Pau. Which is excactly what you said. 10/10/5, but timid and prone to fumbling. And that's what I expect to continue. I just don't think that's enough from him which is why I've never relinquished in my desire to trade him. I understood that it would be stupid to trade him without even giving him a chance to play alongside Nash (not from a basketball standpoint, but because the media/fans would crush the Lakers for not giving Pau a chance, and I think ownership probably wants to avoid something like that after the PJ/D'antoni fiasco). I give him credit for playing with more passion and for trying to make it work, but he's just not a good fit anymore. We need an athlete at that position.

I think his passing makes him a better fit than we'd previously thought. And the fact that Dwight will likely face foul trouble once or twice every playoff series, he's about as good as you can ask for from a de facto backup Center.

He might be the best passing big man in the game right now and if he were replaced, I guarantee you we'd miss that. The timidness and such is to be expected. The fumbles will probably continue. But you'd be hard pressed to find a guy with his passing touch as a 7 footer.

^ my biggest fear is what if he fumbles the ball away during a crunch time play late in the playoff game? Hes been making some really dumb decisions the last couple of years in the playoffs

Foul 30 feet from the basket..really?

Easy pass from Kobe, he just has to flush it and he fumbles it away

This beauty right here from last year's playoffs

When Kobe was sick last year in game 6 the dude gets intimidated by the crowd and throws in a stinker instead of stepping up and trying to relieve your Number 1 player

I dont have faith in him in competing during big moments of games. I dont have faith in him to make the right decision late in games. I dont have faith in him late in games right now, PERIOD. He needs to put together 20-25 games where he competes and tries hard so that he can be trusted with late 4th Q minutes. He brings a lot of things to the table that this team needs but Id rather have Hill or Jamison or MWP at the 4 than Pau who just seems scared or whatever the hell is going on with him

therealdeal wrote:I'm just wondering what you guys expected to see?... Did you expect him to come back and look like Pau from 2009? That ship has sailed a long time ago.

Now at least he's playing more aggressively and he's working harder. I'm seeing less of him standing around shrugging and more of him taking ownership or giving more effort. As things move along he'll get a little better than what he is now, but right now what he can provide is about 10/10/5 with a block or a steal a game. That's a lot and it's actually a pretty awesome piece. He's still going to be timid around the rim a lot. He's still going to get shots put up over him. He'll still fumble some balls away, although I expect that to lessen as he gets used to Steve.

He's never going to be what he was guys. I'm far from disappointed in his play these last two games. All I wanted was some more fire in him and that's what he's giving us. I'm taking solace in the fact that I've seen him pumped up a few times these last couple of games. I've seen him look interested instead of lost.

THIS.

If he would only be more decisive with the ball, then he's doing enough. His days of being a number 2 are dead. But, if he can just be a 15/10/5 guy with a ton of 'hockey assists', contested shots, and second and third rebounding efforts.

Unless there is some package that can really help our championship aspiration, I'd rather keep him.

^^ Agreed 100%. I think we've had enough change lately. I want to see what this entire roster can do. The hockey assists, assists and rebounding, plus even the threat to score double digits from Gasol is good stuff, plus his ability to play at backup 5 if Howard is tired or in foul trouble.

Is he the player he once was for us? No way. We've seen him drop off. But he's still a heck of a team player and I love the skills he brings to the table.

We don't have time to break in new guys this year. Let's give this roster their chance just as D' Antoni is getting his chance. If we fall short, then it's time to shake things up in the offseason. At that point Pau will have more value as an expiring and if he's moved in the summer it will give our team a chance to acclimate to new pieces in training camp.

We're already basically at January - this team needs to develop chemistry, not stir things up again and have to integrate new guys.

I still feel like Pau could help us get that championship. Next year his contract is too costly for us and we'll want to inject some youth into the mix. But for now, I'm just happy he's back and seemingly healthy. Let's knock on wood.

If he can play adequate defense by not running lay-up drills for the opposition and if he can shoot 48%+ from the field, I'll be satisfied.

“Action has meaning only in relationship; and without understanding relationship, action on any level will only breed conflict. The understanding of relationship is infinitely more important than the search for any plan of action.” -Jiddu Krishnamurti